


Slipping through my fingers

by Pearlislove



Series: Mamma Mia oneshots [3]
Category: Mamma Mia! (Movies), Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Canonical Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 04:16:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15744102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearlislove/pseuds/Pearlislove
Summary: The day Donna died





	Slipping through my fingers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Doctorsmelody](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doctorsmelody/gifts).



> Requested by Doctorsmelody, who wished for me to explain what happened to Donna. Tbh I really didn't, but oh well...I almost did!

“Donna! Donna, are you here?” As Rosie entered the orange grove, she called out for her friend, only to be disappointed at the lack of an answer.

 

Donna had been missing from the hotel for five hours. She had been supposed to return from picking oranges earlier in the morning, but never did. Instead, she had disappeared without a trace, driving Sophie mad worrying for where she might be.

 

So many hours later, both Dynamos and Dynobros had, along with Sky, offered to go out looking for her while her daughter kept the hotel running. At that point, even they had to admit there was some cause for concern.

 

Rosie had, after having made quick work of Sam’s cottage and the goat house, both of which showed no traces of her missing friend, decided to check the place Donna had last been seen.

 

“Donna if you’re here it’s not funny anymore! Sophie is worried sick, Sam think you might have gotten hurt...we really want you to come home…” She babbled quite a bit, sure that no one listened as she moved aimlessly between the lush trees.  
  
Then, she tripped. Her foot hit against something solid and she flew over it, scrapping her hands and knees as she landed face down in the dry grass and knocking her glasses away from her face.   
  
"What the actual..." Any disgraceful words that she had planned died on her lips as she turned around, getting on her knees and squinting at the blurry pops of colour that made up the world around her.   
  
Still, even through the blur, she recognized the unmistakable dark blue of Donna's dungarees. Her turquoise rings stood out strongly against the yellow and brown of the dried out plant life, as did the streaks of red that mixed with what might be Donna's hair, and Rosie could feel her heart dropping into the bottom of her stomach.   
  
Red, like blood. Like injury and death and misery ever after.   
  
Not knowing what else to do, Rosie scream. Already before she got her glasses on and knows what happened, she scream as loud and as much as her voice can take. She is scared and desperate for someone, anyone, to come and find her because she couldn't handle this on her own.   
  
Rosie could not be alone with what might very well be Donna's corpse.   
  
Somewhere between crying and shouting, she remembers to look for her glasses, hands dragging through the dirt as the loud noise died down into tiny whispers of long forgotten prayers learnt in her childhood. Prayers for luck and prayers for prosperity, anything that might make the situation a little less macabre and panic inducing.   
  
By the time Rosie finds and put on her glasses, she doesn't dare to look at Donna. She sit with her back to her best friend and waits, still whispering half-forgotten prayers that are slowly growing louder as panic overcomes her once more.   


Then, she hears the bushes rustling, and she scream. “Here! She is here! We’re over here!”  
  
"Rosie what..." Harry bursting out of the bushes like a less elegant gazelle, and at first he’s just confused. Rosie is sitting on the ground, her face covered in streaks of dirt as she turned and screamed at him with all her might. He’s about to ask why, but all his words die out as he sees the still body lying behind her. "Oh dear god" He exclaims, suddenly realizing the reason for Rosie’s panic as he recognise the familiar dungarees. “Oh no no!” He can’t handle it. Filled with panic, he starts walking backwards.

 

Watching Harry back off, Rosie finally dares to look over her shoulder, facing her fate and facing the consequences of whatever horrifying has happened.  
  
Donna is lying on her back, her arms and legs spread out around her to imitate a four-pointed star. The once piercing blue eyes stare lifelessly at the sky, her rosy lips turning cold and blue as the last of her lifeforce left her cold body.   
  
One look at Donna with glasses on is enough to do Rosie in all over again. She close her eyes and starting screaming once more, yelling her head off for no other reason than to let out the emotions bubbling inside her. Rosie shout and yell and make noises until she can no more, her voice physically failing her due to the enormous strain.

 

By then, Tanya too appears in the small orange groove. She is followed at the heels closely by Sky, Sam and Bill, all four of them having been out looking for Donna when they heard the screams, thus realizing something must have happened.  


The scene that meet them in the clearing  is macabre as it is terrifying. By their feet lies Donna, cold and dead since many long hours, and on the other side of her is Rosie, blocking her ears and screaming as much as her failing voice will allow. Across the clearing from where they are standing, Harry is starring unseeingly into the air, the shock clearly having made his mind leave the reality around him behind.

 

Despite their own shock, it take them but a second to get to work.

  
Together, Bill and Tanya does a combined effort to pull Rosie into the tightest, most comforting hug she has ever experienced. It’s soft and warm and she is squished between two of the people she loves the most. Tanya’s sweet perfume mix with Bill’s earthy cologne and Rosie feels home, safe and protected from all the bad things in the world. In their arms, she cries quietly, hiding her face against Tanya’s chest so she won’t have to watch as Sky tries to deal with the body of her best friend.

 

Sky hardly knows what he is doing. How did you take care of a body, much less the one of your mother in law? He doesn’t know, but recognise he’ll have to learn. He close her eyes and gather up the limbs as close to the body as possible, before lifting her bridal style. It makes him shudder as he feels the ice cold weight in his arms, realizing he have to carry it all the way back to the hotel.

 

All the way back to Sophie who's waiting for them, sick with worry for might have happened to her mother.

 

While Tanya and Bill goes for Rosie, and Sky deals with the body - most probably the only one who has a chance of being able to care for the body without having a complete breakdown - Sam runs across to Harry.

 

The man is clearly in shock, his eyes empty as they starred in front of him, his face expressionless and devoid of emotions. Not even Sam’s hands on his shoulders make any difference, and it worries him.

 

“Harry, it's me, Sam. Are you okay?” He waves a hand in front of his friend, but nothing happened this time either.

 

“Harry got scared, he couldn’t handle it.” Sam hears Rosie mumbling from across the clearing, her face buried against Tanya’s breast, seeking comfort from her friend much like a child would from its mother.

 

“Let's just go. It’s a long walk  from here to the Hotel and we need to get back while it’s light out. Harry’ll come back to it eventually.” Tanya is tired and exasperated, still enveloping both Rosie and Bill in some kind of awkward three-way hug that’s meant to comfort the small woman squashed in the middle.

 

Sam sigh. He did one more attempt to wake Harry, but nothing happened. However, as Sam took his hand and led him gently across the grove, Harry moved compliantly, and he judge that Tanya is right.

  


And so, they began their walk back to the hotel. Trekking through forest and following the dusty dirt road, they move forward step by step. Had anyone been looking, it would have looked like a tragic parody of a funeral procession. Harry and Sam walking hand in hand first, then Rosie, Tanya and Bill, and at the end Sky, dragging behind slightly and carrying the corpse which had been the reason for their long winded excursion.

  
Broken and red cried, they finally manages to get back to the hotel many hours later. The sun would soon set, and they fight to make it the last stretch up the stairs before the lguht dies out.

 

At the terrasse, Sophie is waiting for them, anxiously glancing at the steps, hoping that any of her family or friends would appear.

 

At first, she feels relieved as she spots Harry and Sam walking hand in hand up the steep stone steps. In the distance she can hardly see their faces, but she feels hope and relief swelling in her stomach because they are _back_ , and it must mean they found her mother.

 

They had to have good news.

 

“You’re back! Did you find mum?” She is positive, half-way into hugging her fathers  when she realizes that something is wrong.

 

Harry’s eyes are red cried, his lower lip trembling as he seemed to be struggling not to cry once more. Sam’s face was blank, but deep aura of sorrow and horror surrounded him.

 

It was not the good news Sophie wanted.

 

“Sam?” Sophie watch with fear and trepidation as he went by her, completely ignoring his step-daughter as he guided Harry into the villa. “Rosie?!” Her voice pitched as she turn around, looking back at the stairs only to see Bill and Tanya leading a completely broken Rosie up the steps. “What happened?! Where is mum?” By now the hope had burned up, desperation and anxiety replacing it as all the positive outcomes she had imagined turned to dust.

 

“Sky’ll explain, darling. I’m very sorry” As Bill walked on with Rosie, ignoring her much like Harry and Sam had, Tanya stopped to put her hand on Sophie’s shoulder. Her face was a mask of sorrow, and even though no tears stained her cheeks or dragged lines through her make-up, Sophie almost burst out crying just hearing her say those few words.

 

With tears burning in her eyes and her heart in pieces, Sophie waited for Sky. She stood at the last step of the stairs, and waited for her hooe to either live or die.

 

Inside Rosie and Tanya’s room, the rest of Sophie’s family was waiting as well, but for something different. They were waiting for the moment when they’d know that Sophie had found out.

 

The scream that comes out of Sophie is heard straight through the wall, and they all wince and turn away as they realize that the moment of truth has come.

 

Surrounding Rosie of the big bed, Bill and Tanya cuddled her closer, holding their little hermit between them. Rosie moved herself closer to them, desperately trying to cover her ears. Tried to block out the desperation of Sophie’s crying and screaming which made them all shiver as it became louder and louder. Rosie almost wanted to scream, too, because it felt as though reality was getting harder to deal with for every moment that passed, but a slender hand clamped over her mouth made it impossible.

 

“Schh darling. Me and Bill are here. We’ll be okay.” Tender as always, Tanya gives Rosie a peck on the cheek, relaxing as the older woman seemed to calm down, leaning in to her and Bill once more. Their little three way relationship was quite peculiar, but all parts involved were quite happy with the arrangement. It allowed for both Tanya and Bill to share the sweet love from Rosie, and Rosie had no need to choose between the two persons she loved the most.

 

Not to mention, that Tanya and Bill could have some fun when Rosie wasn’t feeling up to it.

 

In the corner of the room, Sam and Harry sat next to one another on two delicate chairs which really had been in need of replacement for a good ten years at this point. They’re still holding hands, their eyes trained on the window though neither Sky nor Sophie are visible looking out of it.

 

“Does it feel real to you yet?” Harry whispers as he squeeze Sam’s hand, not sure who he’s comforting of the two.

 

“No” Sam’s reply is hard and clipped, showing how hard he was trying to repress the feeling bubbling inside him.

 

 _And who could blame him_ , Harry thought. Sam had lost his wife, only four short years after he had reunited with her, and he now had a daughter without a mother.

 

“What do you think did her in? She was just laying there when we found her.” Finally, it is Bill who says what they are all thinking. Stroking his hand over Rosie's back, he dares to voice what has been running lapses in his head since he saw what had happened. He doesn’t specify who ‘she’ is, but in the circumstances it is not necessary.

 

“An accident? She was supposed to go out to get oranges this morning but never came back. We all know that.” Harry offered meekly.  

 

“There was blood in her hair. She must've hit her head.” Sam cross his arms, frowning. Tears were glistening on his cheeks. His theory got mumbled approvals from Rosie and Bill.

 

“A heart attack” Tanya commented with an ice cold tone. Her eyes were dull and lifeless, a hand absentmindedly combing through Rosie’s hair as she spoke to no one in particular. “My grandmother had one while standing on a chair and fell off it. That’s what I think happened.”

 

Behind them, the door opened quietly, and all conversation died instantly as they turned to watch for the newcomer. The aqua coloured piece if wood moved slowly, Sophie’s glowing golden curls coming into view behind it.

 

They breath out, feeling both fear and relief as they saw the young woman’s red cried face.

 

“I thought you’d be in here” Sophie said shyly. “Sky’s gone to...to take care of…he’s putting her in the cellar.” She sighed, tears flooding her clear blue eyes as she sat down on the third chair populating the room. It was in front of the make-up table, pictures of her and her mother glued to the edges of the mirror by her ten year old self as a less well thought out thirtieth birthday gift to her mother.  “We called the funeral service on Mykonos. Someone’ll come over with the ferry first thing tomorrow. They thought we should tell the police out on the mainland.”

 

“The police? What does the police have to do with Donna?” Immediately, Sam was onto Sophie, asking with great uproar for what purpose the police should be called. Clearly, the thought of involving them in the death of his wife made him feel very emotional. “It was an accident, Sophie! Horrible, but nothing intentional.”

 

“I know dad! I didn’t say that neither me nor Sky had.” Sophie sigh, leaning her head against her hand. “But the fact is that we don’t know what has happened. And unless we call the police and get them to do an autopsy, we never will.” Feeling overwhelmed, Sophie tried to dry the tears that drenched her face. “I just wish it never happened.”

 

“So do we all, Sophie. I still don’t understand how she could just...just _die_ ”

 

They all turn their faces to the door, surprised as they see that Sky has decided to join them. But there he is, standing with a hesitant frown on his face, and suddenly everyone in the little mismatched family are gathered in one and the same room, trying hard to process the tragedy that had occured.

 

“I always thought she’d die working on this place. She was always working when I was little...I still can’t imagine her any other way.” Sophie said softly. A mumble of agreeance spread through the room, all the men nodding at one another.

 

“I always thought I’d go before her.” Tanya’s confession is soft, whispered and barely heard. And it was true, really. There had never been a time when Tanya imagined losing Rosie nor Donna. She’d have to go first, but she couldn’t bear losing them and living on afterwards.

 

Tanya felt like she was breaking, little  cracks spreading from her heart and threatening to tear her hole body apart. She clung to Rosie, combing through her hair and hold on to her clothes, just to not lose herself in it all.

 

“No one else is dying” Rosie says definitely, sitting up between Bill and Tanya. It’s the most she’s said since she found Donna’s body, and though her voice is completely hearse and broke, she speak without hesitation. “It’s been a hard day. Donna is _dead_.” She pause, swallowing her tears. “And all we can do is to enj...enjoy the fact that we still have each other.” It’s all Rosie can get out, promptly bursting  into a waterfall of tears.

 

“She’s right. It’s tragic, but we are not alone” Bill agreed. He too had tears in his eyes, though he tried to hide them. “We all have one another.

 

“I love you” Sophie said, tears flooding her eyes as her emotions kept bubbling and fester beneath her skin, like electric currents underneath her skin. “I just want to hug you all!”

 

“We love you too” Rising from the bed, Tanya enveloped Sophie in a tight hug.

 

“All of us” Sam agreed, he too joining the hug along with Bill and Harry.

 

“And we’re all here for you.” Rosie too joined, and so did Sky, the two of them the last to come into the gigant group hug that had formed around Sophie.

 

And so, they stood there. Drenched in the light of the setting sun, they cling to one another with sorrow and love in their hearts, trying to theur very best to draw comfort and support from those that they loved the most.

 

A horrible day passed, and many horrible still lay before them, but together they knew that they could do it.

 

In the name of Donna Sheridan and everything that she loved, they lived on.

**Author's Note:**

> Comment, please! <3


End file.
